Savannah Haim
CMT: Music City Live and Uncovered
Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, Tennessee
December 02, 2018
Following her introduction to the stage with the caveat that this is very much the most high profile live performance in her career, Savannah Haim saunters out onto the Cannery Ballroom stage with an excited smile. In a low-key look, wearing a long flowing white dress with a couple of flowers in her hair and minimal make-up she wanders over towards the microphone at the center of the stage and asks the audience in a softly spoken voice, “How're you guys and gals doing tonight?” to which she receives a smattering of cheers and an encouraging applause, she continues, “My names Savannah and I'm goin' to play a couple of songs for you tonight.” she pauses briefly before continuing “I hope you like em'.”
And with the brief introductions out of the way, her guitarist 'Flynn McCarthy' begins picking at the acoustic guitar strings to begin the opening song, her debut single, “Young Love”. She places a hand onto the microphone stand and composes herself before singing the opening verse to her first song of the performance;
“Running through the backstreets/Climbing all the best trees, we'd sit and talk for hours/Hiding in the cornfields/Grazes on our young knees/Pickin' all the flowers.” She then continues into the second verse,
“Kisses underneath the bridge/That's where all those young lovers hid/Rush of blood to the head/Pleasures of the fleshes/We were just so reckless/Didn't care if we were caught.”She delivers her lyrics with a sultry and mystic vibe, with such delicacy that you can hear the soft breaths she takes between words which just adds to the aura of her performance. With this essentially being our very first real look at the up and coming singer. Following the opening two verses, she wanders over towards her guitarist during an acoustic break in the song. She moves her hips ever so slightly to the music and leans in to him as he performs the link between verse and chorus. She then slowly makes her way back over to the center of the stage and grasps the microphone with both hands, removing it from it's stand and moves herself closer to the edge of the stage where she reaches out to her audience with one hand, clasping the microphone in her other before raising it towards her mouth and singing the chorus to her crowd.
“This young love was ours/It was just you and me, it was yours and mine/Everything we did/I'd still do it a thousand more times/For that rush of young love/They said we had a sickness/Always in each others arms and minds/But they never felt a love like this/If only they could feel the way that we did all of the time.”She wanders back over to the center of the stage, placing the microphone back in it's stand and being joined by her guitarist as they both look at each other in the eyes and sing out the refrain together.
“Sneaking out the backdoor/Late night drives to the old moor/Nobody knew a thing/Laying on the rooftop, you could hear a pin drop/More than just a summer fling/We had fallen in love/Watching all the stars above/Soft touches and the cool summer air.” Another rundown of the chorus, delivered once more with a certain level of intensity. It's clear that the singers power comes from the way she carries herself, she's intimidating and intriguing all at the same time.
As she finishes her first song, she gives the audience a big smile and places her hands together and mouths the words “thank you” to the crowd before introducing her band onstage for the next couple of songs. Her band consists of Flynn McCarthy on acoustic guitar which has now been replaced by a mandolin, Anthony Browne on drums and Avery Wyatt on pedal steel guitar. As the trio ready themselves onstage Savannah waves to the crowd before they begin cheering, she addresses the crowd once more with a warm smile, “Y'all are so god-damned beautiful. I truly wish I could bottle evenings like tonight. So much fuckin' love in one place.” she gets the signal from her band and introduces the next song, “This is called, 'Plaid Shirt Days'.” she says with a smile before the band starts up the intro to the song with the pedal-steel guitar giving the song a very clear country music vibe,
“I've been living fast on that open road/But I think these days I'd quite like to take it slow/Wake up in the mornin' with nowhere to go/Breakfast on the front porch with that cold sting in the countryside air/Livin' away from the big City/Away from all the drama that surrounds me there.” the final line getting a huge cheer from the audience, she wanders along the front of the stage reaching out her hand to the audience members doing the same thing. One thing is clear from her performance, she has a lot of confidence on the stage that has been built up over years of playing to tough crowds in smaller venues. She doesn't seem fazed by the larger stage, at least on this first showing as she makes her way back to her band, she sings out,
“I've had nights that I can't remember/Some I wish I could forget/I've made my mistakes/But I can't call them regrets/Because I've had some growin' up to do/And it was a whole lot of fun/But now I'm done.” She ends the verse with a smile and a knowing giggle with her band, perhaps indicating that her fun isn't quite over yet.
The band continue to deliver the sort of traditional country music vibe to the song as she opens her lungs for the first real time this evening as she sings out the chorus in full voice to which ignites the crowd a little further,
“I think I just want those plaid shirt days/Denim jeans and hiking boots/Shovels, rakes and growin' fruit/I just want those plaid shirt days/Denim jeans and hiking boots/Shovels, rakes and growin' fruit/Take me to the countryside away from all the noise/Brisk summer evenings with roaring fires, drinking with the good ol' boys/You can chop the wood and I'll sit by the river/Skipping' rocks sounds therapeutic/I could get so used to it.” she shakes her hips a little to the music with a smile across her face, gives the audience a wink and the band go immediately into the next song which sends the audiences excitement levels a little higher.
The familiar strumming of a mandolin and opening lines of Dolly Parton's “Coat of Many Colors” has the crowd immediately singing along to the song about growing up with very little but in family having more than they'll ever need,
“Back through the years I go wanderin' once again/Back to the seasons of my youth/I recall a box of rags that someone gave us/And how my momma put the rags to use/There were rags of many colors/But every piece was small/And I didn't have a coat/And it was way down in the fall/Momma sewed the rags together/Sewin' every piece with love/She made my coat of many colors/That I was so proud of.” With her delivery of this song, she shows that she has the chops to tackle songs with the essential elements of country music, which is about telling a story through the music. From her two original songs this evening, it seems that she has the ability to tell a story and here's to hoping that she'll be able to create songs that can stand alongside the likes of “Coat of Many Colors” and the next song she performs which is Lucinda Williams' “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road”.
Before the final verse of the Dolly Parton cover finishes, the band move into the next song of the evening, Savannah holding the microphone stand tightly and standing almost perfectly still to deliver this one.
“Sittin' in the kitchen, a house in Macon/Loretta's singing on the radio/Smell of coffee, eggs and bacon/Car wheels on a gravel road/Pull the curtains back and look outside/Somebody somewhere I don't know/Come on now child, we're gonna go for a ride/Car wheels on a gravel road/Car wheels on a gravel road/Car wheels on a gravel road.” as the first verse comes to an end, the music picks up a little louder and Savannah begins to sway as she sings out in her more powerful vocal delivery, her ability to switch up between soft and sultry to powerful and assertive is a positive indication that she's plenty of positives to offer in her music,
“There goes the screen door slamming shut/You better do what you're told/When I get back this room better be picked-up/Car wheels on a gravel road/Car wheels on a gravel road/Car wheels on a gravel road.” and another couple of verses and we're at the end of her first high profile live performance. The crowd cheer as her band leaves the stage, she raises her hands to the audience and blows a couple of kisses at the crowd before leaving the stage.
Setlist;1. “Young Love”
2. “Plaid Shirt Days”
3. “Coat of Many Colors” (Dolly Parton Cover)
2. “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road” (Lucinda Williams Cover)
